Donald Trump backed out of a potential debate in California with Bernie Sanders today after telling Jimmy Kimmel earlier in the week he was willing to do it for a charitable cause. Trump issued a statement which read:
Based on the fact that the Democratic nominating process is totally rigged and Crooked Hillary Clinton and Deborah Wasserman Schultz will not allow Bernie Sanders to win, and now that I am the presumptive Republican nominee, it seems inappropriate that I would debate the second place finisher.
Consider me completely unsurprised. As I argued yesterday, Trump had nothing to gain by participating while Bernie could have the world. Hillary stood to gain even less.
While Hillary is quite relieved, Bernie is no doubt disappointed, but I don’t think he’s too surprised. Upon learning of Trump’s decision, Sanders said, “Mr. Trump is known to change his mind many times in a day.”
Chances are Bernie would have wiped the floor with Trump. The long and the short of it is that Donald Trump chickened out. Hell, you can call him Chicken Donald.